The King William Historic Home Tour 2012 is from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.

-Will feature six private homes as well as the Steves Homestead and Villa Finale. -Advance tickets for $15 are available at the King William Association office, 1032 S. Alamo St.; the Villa Finale Visitors Center, 122 Madison St.; and the AIA office in the Full Goods building at the Pearl Brewery.

-Day-of tickets for $20 will be available only at Villa Finale, 401 King William St. -For more information visit www.kingwilliamassociation.org or call 210-227-8786.

Travis and Donna Mitchell and their children often would ride their bicycles past the 1937 Spanish-style home in a well-established, older neighborhood of New Braunfels. The stucco home on Coll Street, with its red tile roof and arched doorways sat across the street from Carl Schurz Elementary School and was unlike other homes in the area. It seemed the perfect fit for the home builder and his family.

The Mitchell home is one of five houses to be featured Saturday during the 19th Annual Daytime Christmas Tour of Homes presented by New Braunfels Republican Women.

Through some careful planning and ingenuity, the Mitchells expanded the original 1,600-square-foot home into more than 4,400 square feet, maintaining the home’s original features while expanding the kitchen and living area and adding bedrooms.

Outside, guests are greeted by two large metallic blue peacocks, which Donna found in the Valley, and the wide porch with its original hand-painted tile and refurbished ornate ironwork. An entrance off the porch leads into the homebuilder’s office.

“We also use this as our model home,” explained Donna.

The original front door leads into a foyer with a small groin vault ceiling in a faux-copper metallic finish added by the Mitchells. They also added a dome ceiling in the master bedroom.

In the kitchen, the Mitchells installed chiseled travertine flooring, granite countertops and knotty alder cabinets. The focal point of the large kitchen is the flowing mosaic backsplash that curves up and around the cabinets. “Carolyn Pittman of New Braunfels created that,” Donna said. “I sought her out.” The living area includes a beamed ceiling and floor to ceiling windows facing a covered patio. The Mitchells added a pass-through window that leads from the kitchen to the patio for easy serving during outside dining.

In the master bath, a barrel ceiling adorned with brick pavers adds warmth to the cream-colored tile floor and walls. Above the tub, a frosted glass window, 6 feet in diameter, is adorned with decorative custom ironwork by Exclusive Ironworks of New Braunfels. Donna also made sure plugs were added inside counter drawers to keep appliances off the countertops.

A nearby laundry room features two entrances and a gift-wrapping station.

In another bathroom, the Mitchells added metal sea turtles (found in the Valley) to the wall and backlit them. Glass circles were added to the tile in the bath to give the appearance of water. Coral adds the final touches in the bathroom’s seascape theme.

The home also includes a cabana, which features a kitchen and bathroom.

“We will decorate the cabana in a beach theme,” Donna said. “We will have a tree with all of our Hawaiian Santas on it.”